Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/104

 be thought that each country will always send away those commodities for the production of which she has greater facilities than the other country to which the commodities are sent. For instance, Isle Pleasant has a great advantage over San Francisco in the production of plantains. Plantains can be grown on the island with one-fourth the labour that it would be necessary to employ to grow them in San Francisco; whereas boots can be produced at one-half the labour in San Francisco that it would be necessary to give to produce them in Isle Pleasant. Therefore a profitable trade to both countries can be established if San Francisco sends boots to Isle Pleasant, and receives plantains in return. This is very true, but it does not always happen that one country has an absolute advantage over the other in any one particular branch of industry. Sometimes, owing to the greater fertility of the soil and other natural advantages, such as geographical position and the skill and industry of the population, one country has greater facility than the other with which it trades in producing every kind of commodity;